Rusty But Trusty

If you’re looking for that classic European GT experience at an affordable price of entry, without facing the complexity of say, a Jaguar V12, there aren’t many choices out there. Contemporaries of the C107 Mercedes coupes included the E9 BMW coupes, Jaguar XJ-S and XJ6C, Citroen SM, Alfa Romeo Montreal, Rolls Royce Silver Shadow Coupe, or Maserati Indy, but none are as accessible as the Mercedes. What’s more is, thanks to the 8-year run of the C107 and the epic 16-year run of the R107, many parts are plentiful, even in junkyards if you are persistent. That said, don’t kid yourself into thinking this will be cheap, but that’s not reason enough to disregard this 1973 Mercedes 450 SLC for sale for $2000 in Lynnwood, WA.

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The early 1970s is an interesting period for GT cars – many were built in the idiom of the golden age of postwar GTs, but most weren’t anywhere near as successful due to all those 1970s factors – fuel crises, emissions regulations, and in a way, safety regulations. Some pretty interesting cars were built in that period, including the Jensen Interceptor, Citroen SM, Triumph Stag, BMW E9 coupes, and Mercedes C107 coupes. The latter car remains the most affordable option today, and you can get a pretty decent car for short money compared to the others. What’s more is, parts are readily available due to the long life of their R107 roadster siblings, if not exactly cheap, and if you get an early-build (1972-3) car, you can get slim chrome bumpers instead of the ridiculous diving boards that did a lot to deface what was actually a fairly elegant design. You can find this 1973 Mercedes 450 SLC for sale for $4000 in the Willow Glen neighborhood of San Jose, CA.

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